M50 LSD's???

[IzzleE36]

Hey everyone, i recently purchased a 95 325i sedan. I was hoping someone could clear the air about m50's coming with LSD's? Not positive, but i've been hearing that some of the non M's from 92-95 have a possibility of coming with an LSD from factory.. Is this true? What should i be looking for on the Diff tag?And I've also been reading that it's possible for a winter package car to have an LSD And ASC..??? Getting pretty dizzy over here, could use some wisdom!!

[Butters Stoch]

Jack it up and turn the wheel, if they both turn same direction, you have LSD.

[spyderg0d]

#with car in nuetral. ^ #wedge the front wheels

From my understanding no car ever came with asc AND an lsd. But its been 20+ years and i have found alot of unexspected "upgrade" factory parts on seemingly stock vehicles.

[pbonsalb]

Winter package manual 325 have 3.15 lsd; autos have 3.91 I think. Not sure how to spot winter package. Beware these diffs are old now and should be serviced. Cap bolts can loosen and back out and wreck the diff. Clutches and dog ears may be worn. Replacement can be DIY. There is even a step by step video somewhere.

[snow663]

If it had heated seats ots a possibility mine had one


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[flyfishvt]

92-93 cars without ASC and with the winter package had LSD. 94 was a transition year. There's no guarantee that you have LSD even if you don't have ASC. If your car has ASC it did not come with LSD. 95+ cars did not come with LSD unless it was purchased as a separate option. Even if the car has winter package. Easiest way to tell if the car has winter package is look at the washer fluid tubing where it disappears into the hood. If you see the tubing and some wires then your car has heated washer jets. On US spec cars you only got heated washer jets with the winter package.

These cars are now 20+ years old. It's extremely rare to find one that is totally original. One popular modification is to buy a used LSD diff and swap out the open dif. Just because an e36 did not come with LSD means nothing. People swap wheels and seats and engines and difs all the time.

2 ways to tell if your dif is LSD. Jack up the rear and rotate one wheel. If the other rotates in the same direction it's LSD. If your dif has a tag on it see if you can read the tag you'll see a series of letters and numbers. If the first digit is a S then it's lsd. If the first digit is a number then it's open.

[JEC928]

I tested mine by doing a burnout, then counting the number of black stripes. It was 1, therefore open dif.

[spyderg0d]

But jec, thats not a valid test my man. An open diff can leave 2 spinning tires when traction is equal btwn both. Also a worn lsd will act as an open diff when traction isnt equal and spin the 1 tire. And in even stock good lsd, as long as the engine can instantly push over the torque needed to break away the 1 wheel from the other and overpower traction, 1 wheel will spin.

[FiberFast]

If your lsd is so worn its only laying rubber from one tire then you don't have an lsd. Jec makes a valid point.

[samy01]

side of road. one wheel on grass, one on street. drive off fast and if it doesn't really move and only the wheel on the grass spins then it's open.

[Devildude24]

Hey everyone, i recently purchased a 95 325i sedan. I was hoping someone could clear the air about m50's coming with LSD's? Not positive, but i've been hearing that some of the non M's from 92-95 have a possibility of coming with an LSD from factory.. Is this true? What should i be looking for on the Diff tag?And I've also been reading that it's possible for a winter package car to have an LSD And ASC..??? Getting pretty dizzy over here, could use some wisdom!!
Look at the differential tag. It will be on the diff. It should have a code on it along with "3.15." If the code starts with "S" then your diff is limited slip. If it has no "S" it is open. I found out that mine was not an LSD but somehow still spins both wheels during a launch or burnout. Confuses me to no end but oh well. Hope I helped!

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[JEC928]

Well I guess my burnout test is only good for seeing if you have a welded dif or not.

[snow663]

Every now and then if the conditions are right my lsd will fail to limit its slip and spin one wheel. But its usually a low gear low traction thing. If i shift up and dump the cluch itll lock right up. Also they are a 1 way differential. They only lock up in forward gears.


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[mslevin]

Related to the more general LSD discussion: whenever I drive up my driveway, a combination of the steep-ish incline and the stiffness of my car means that one of my rear wheels will lift off the ground, depending on which side I come from.

If I come in like this:
|....| <- driveway
..\.. <- me

My right rear wheel comes off the ground. This is usually okay but if I'm going too slow, the car will stop and accelerating will just spin the wheel that is lifted off the ground. I'm assuming the LSD (I have a 3.23) should spin both as I drive up, but its either worn or there just isn't enough load on it. Kind of annoying, I have to back up and try again.

[snow663]

Related to the more general LSD discussion: whenever I drive up my driveway, a combination of the steep-ish incline and the stiffness of my car means that one of my rear wheels will lift off the ground, depending on which side I come from.

If I come in like this:
|....| <- driveway
..\.. <- me

My right rear wheel comes off the ground. This is usually okay but if I'm going too slow, the car will stop and accelerating will just spin the wheel that is lifted off the ground. I'm assuming the LSD (I have a 3.23) should spin both as I drive up, but its either worn or there just isn't enough load on it. Kind of annoying, I have to back up and try again.

Lol i dont think a standard oem lsd will allow a full lock like that. These units are only 25% lock. Meaning one tire off the ground gets 75% power when it is fully engaged. Not enough to get you up a hill on one tire.


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[spyderg0d]

If i remember correctly a factory lsd has a 70lb or so break away. That means it only takes 70lbs to make one tire get away from the other. Even an unworn lsd unit can be made to slip. Usually its more like what samy described. But at 70lbs, one tire could be in a pot hole and it would be enough in conditions.